Память преподобного отца нашего Никиты Столпника, Переяславского чудотворца

This reverend father of ours was born and raised in the city of Pereyaslavl Zalessky 3442. From a young age, he was distinguished by a cruel and touchy character, caused disturbances and caused a lot of harm to people, bringing them to court and committing robberies. He also had friends like himself. One day, having finished his studies, he came to church during the evening service and heard the following words of the prophet Isaiah read there: “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; remove your evil deeds from before my eyes; stop doing evil” (Is. 1:16), etc. He was immediately horrified by these words and, returning home, spent the whole night without sleep, thinking about these words. The next day, out of his habit, he went to his friends, had fun in their company and asked them to dine with him that day. After this, he went to the market to buy provisions and, having brought them home, told his wife to prepare dinner. And when the wife began to wash the meat, she noticed that blood was unusually flowing from it, and then, when she put it in a pot and began to cook, she saw that blood was foaming in the pot and that a human head, then a hand, or feet were floating to the surface. She was horrified by this and told her husband. When he came and saw for himself what his wife had told him about, he was overcome with horror for a long time, and then, coming to his senses, he said with a deep heartfelt sigh: - Woe to me! I have sinned a lot. After these words, praying and bursting into tears, he left the house and, going one distance from the city, came to the monastery of the Holy Great Martyr Nikita 3443. Here he fell at the feet of the abbot of this monastery and said: Amazed by such an extraordinary change in Nikita, the abbot said to him: - Test yourself: stay for three days at the monastery gates, cry and confess your sins before everyone who enters and leaves the monastery. Nikita did just that. For three days he cried and prayed, confessing his sins to everyone. After this, he saw near the monastery a swampy place overgrown with reeds, and many midges and mosquitoes flying over it. He came to this place, took off his clothes and, entering completely naked into the swamp, sat down in the reeds and began to pray to God. After three days, the abbot sent a monk to see what Nikita was doing. The monk came and, not finding him at the monastery gates, after a short search, found him lying in the reeds. Midges and mosquitoes circled above him in a huge cloud. Returning to the monastery, the monk told the abbot about this. Then the abbot, together with the brethren of the monastery, came to Nikita and, seeing him in such a position that his body could not be seen (the blood flowed from him so profusely), said to him: - My son! What are you doing to yourself! Nikita did not answer anything else, but only said to the abbot: - Father! Save a perishing soul. After this, the abbot brought him into the monastery, tonsured him as a monk and placed him in a cramped cell, where he began to remain in constant prayer and fasting, spending days and nights without sleep. At this time, the malicious enemy began to instill fear in him with various visions, but he protected himself from these visions with the sign of the cross, calling on the Holy Great Martyr Nikita for help, and did not tell anyone about this. Soon Nikita built pillar 3444 near the church and dug a narrow path under the church wall, which he used to come to the church to pray. For such exploits, he received from God the gift of miracles, since many, possessed by various ailments, came to him and received healing from him. At this time, the noble prince of Chernigov Mikhail 3445 fell ill with the disease of relaxation. Hearing about Saint Nikita, he ordered his boyars to take him to the city of Pereyaslavl to the monk for healing. When he was already on his way, he was met by a demon in the form of a monk and said about himself that he was from the same monastery where Saint Nikita labored. The prince asked him about the monk, and the demon said that he was a deceiver. This greatly saddened the prince. After some time, the same demon, in a different form, again met the prince on the way and said to him: “It’s in vain, prince, that you bother yourself by making such a long journey.” When the prince came within one mile of the monastery where the monk was staying, he ordered a tent to be set up for himself to rest from the journey, and sent one of his boyars to the monastery to notify the monk of his arrival. Then the same demon met the monk sent in the form of a monk blind in one eye with a shovel in his hands and told him that the monk had died and that he had already buried him. Realizing the deception, the boyar rebuked the demon with the prayer of the saint, and the demon remained completely motionless in the place where he stood. The boyar then came to the pillar of Saint Nikita and informed him about the arrival of the prince and about his serious illness, after which the saint sent his staff to the prince. The blessed Prince Michael took this rod in his hand and stood on his feet completely healthy, so he came on foot to the pillar of the monk, received a blessing from him and told him everything about the demonic temptation that happened to him during the journey. Then the monk rebuked the demon in the name of God and commanded him openly in front of everyone to stand motionless at his pillar for three hours, after which the demon swore an oath to the saint never again to do evil to people and immediately disappeared. Having received healing, the blessed Prince Michael fervently thanked God and the holy elder and, having given a rich gift to the monastery, returned to his city. So our holy father Nikita, staying in his pillar and offering constant prayers to God, gave healing to everyone who came to him to receive healing from ailments. One night some of his relatives came to the monk with a request to pray for them and, seeing heavy chains on him, which had become clean and shiny from long rubbing against his body, they thought they were silver. Darkened by the devil's instigation, they decided to kill the saint and, having come to the pillar, dismantled the cover that was on it, entered it and forcibly separated the saint's soul from his body 3446. Then they took the chains, wrapped them in rough linen and ran away. Before the morning service, paraecclesiarch 3447, as was customary, came to the saint’s pillar to receive a blessing from him, and, seeing that the cover of the pillar was dismantled, he went to the abbot and informed him about this. Then they came to the pillar and found the saint’s body still warm, and a fragrance emanated from it. Reverently taking him from the pillar, with censing and singing psalms, they solemnly buried him at the Church of the Holy Martyr Nikita on the right side near the altar. At the same time, all the sick people who happened to be at that time received healing. The wicked murderers of the saint, thinking that they had acquired a precious treasure, continued to flee and soon reached the Volga River. Then they unfolded the canvas and, seeing that the three honest crosses and heavy chains were iron, that they had been cleaned from long friction and that was why they shone, they threw them into the river near the city of Yaroslavl near the monastery of St. Apostle Peter 3448. On the very first night after this, one monk of this monastery, named Simeon, saw in that place not far from the shore three brightly glowing pillars. They rose from the ground to the sky and emitted rays of light. The monk told the archimandrite of his monastery about this, and he informed the head of the city and, accompanied by many people, they went to this place and found the saint’s honest chains, which, like a dry tree, miraculously floated on top of the water. They reverently took them, sang psalms and carried them into the city and, meeting on the way a lame man who was crawling on his feet on the ground, they overshadowed him with crosses that were on chains, after which his feet and knees were strengthened, and he stood on his feet, completely healthy. In addition, many other sick people who suffered from various ailments received healing from the saint’s faith. After some time, the Monk Nikita appeared to the aforementioned monk Simeon and said to him: “Let this honorable sign of my exploits soon be transferred from here and placed on my coffin.” After this, the saint’s chains were transferred with honors from the city of Yaroslavl to the city of Pereyaslavl and laid on his honorable tomb. They provide many healings to everyone who comes with faith for the glory of Christ God. In the Orthodox sense, having hated youthful desires and embraced valiant morals, you have conquered the enemy, and in your prudence you have pleased God: and from above we receive from Him the gift of miracles, to drive away demons, to heal ailments, O most glorious Nikita, pray to Christ God to save our souls. For Christ’s sake, you endured a necessary death from your slaves and you received the crown of incorruption from Him: but to those who come with faith, from your honorable tomb you grant healing, O Venerable Nikita, prayer book for our souls. Pereyaslavl Zalessky, now a county town in the Vladimir province, was first located on Lake Kleshchino, near the upper reaches of the Klyazma River tributary of Perm, and then around 1152, by the Suzdal prince Yuri Dolgoruky, it was moved to a new location, 5 versts to the south. It was called Zalessky because it was located in dense forests that separated it from other cities. The Nikitsky Monastery was located on a field 3 versts from the city on its northern side. He becomes known from the life of St. Nikita. The time of its foundation is unknown. The pillar that the monk built for his exploits was not on top of, but inside the earth. It was a pillar-shaped round pit or just a cave, so the pillarhood of St. Nikita was essentially a retreat. Prince Mikhail was the son of Vsevolod, Prince of Chernigov. His healing dates back to 1186. The Monk Nikita died in 1186, on May 24. Paraecclesiarch - a sexton who lights lamps before images in monasteries. The Peter and Paul Yaroslavl Monastery stood on the banks of the Volga River in the place where Peter's Church is now. You might be interested in: